Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Summary

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran sets forth the cultural, social, political, and economic foundations of Iranian society on the basis of the Islamic principles and norms that represent the heartfelt desire of the Islamic nation.

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Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran - Hamid Algar

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Introduction

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran sets forth the cultural, social, political, and economic foundations of Iranian society on the basis of the Islamic principles and norms that represent the heartfelt desire of the Islamic nation. This basic desire was determined by the very nature of the great Islamic Revolution of Iran, as well as the course of the Muslim people’s struggle, from its beginning until victory—as reflected in the decisive and forceful slogans used by all segments of the population. At this time, too, in the dawn of their great victory, our people are striving with all of their being to attain their final goal.

The basic characteristic of the Revolution, which distinguishes it from other movements that have taken place in Iran during the past hundred years, is its ideological and Islamic nature. After experiencing the antidespotic constitutional movement and the anti-imperialist movement centered on the nationalization of the oil industry, the Muslim people of Iran learned the valuable lesson that the obvious and fundamental reason for the failure of those movements was their lack of an ideological basis. It is well known that the intellectual line of Islam and the direction provided by militant religious leaders played an essential role in various recent movements. Nonetheless, because the struggles waged in the course of those movements departed from the true positions of Islam, they quickly fell into stagnation. Thus it was that the awakened conscience of the nation, under the leadership of that precious marja’-i taqlid, Ayatullah al-Uzma Imam Khomeini, came to perceive the necessity of pursuing an authentically Islamic and ideological line in its struggles. The militant religious leaders of the country, who had always been in the forefront of popular movements, together with the committed writers and intellectuals bestirred themselves anew as a result of his leadership, so that the beginning of the most recent movement of the Iranian people is to be put at 1382 of the lunar Islamic calendar, corresponding to 1341 of the solar Islamic calendar [1962 of the Christian